Wire Fox Terrier Named Sky Wins Best in Show at Westminster

The wire fox terrier Sky won the prestigious Best in Show title at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show at Madison Square Garden Tuesday, beating out the fan favorite, a bloodhound named Nathan.

Best in Show judge Betty Regina Leininger named Sky, the five-year-old wire fox terrier, the winner, denying Nathan a shot at making Westminster history. A bloodhound has never won Best in Show in its 138-year history, and the crowd was trying to push Leininger in her favor, according to the New York Times.

Sky became the 46th terrier, the most of any group, and 14th wire fox terrier breed to be selected Best in Show at the renowned dog show. Leininger chose Ally, a standard poodle, as runner-up.

"She just said, 'Pick me,'" Leininger said of Sky. "She is a beautiful wire. She really made us proud. This was her night. I've seen her before. I had never judged her before. I had seen her before at other dog shows where she’s won. She looked the best tonight from every angle."

For Sky's owner Gabriel Rangel, it was his second best in show in five years. His Scottish terrier named Sadie won the top title in 2010.

"It's like winning an Oscar," Victor Malzoni Jr., an owner from Brazil and economist, said.

Sky posed for numerous photos at the center of the floor at Madison Square Garden after being named Best in Show, later putting her paws in the silver-plated winner's bowl.

"Onstage, they were mostly all business," wrote New York Times' Richard Sandomir. "If any dog acted like Bert or Ernie on the green carpeting of the Garden, it might lose points or earn a contract with Muppets on Ice. The Westminster is the show of shows in the purebred dog world, and the dogs, as well as their handlers, behave with requisite dollops of propriety, except for the occasional leap, bark, vigorous head shake, or premature demand for a treat."